Chapter 124
The Wicked PrinceTHERE lived once upon a time a wicked prince whose heart
and mind were set upon conquering all the countries of the world,
and on frightening the people; he devastated their countries with
fire and sword, and his soldiers trod down the crops in the fields
and destroyed the peasants' huts by fire, so that the flames licked
the green leaves off the branches, and the fruit hung dried up on
the singed black trees. Many a poor mother fled, her n***d baby in
her arms, behind the still smoking walls of her cottage; but also
there the soldiers followed her, and when they found her, she
served as new nourishment to their diabolical enjoyments; demons
could not possibly have done worse things than these soldiers! The
prince was of opinion that all this was ri
